José Mário Vaz (born 10 December 1957) is a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as president of Guinea-Bissau[1] from 23 June 2014 to 27 February 2020.

[3][5] In the first round of the election, held on 13 April 2014, Vaz won 40.9% of the votes, and entered a runoff with the second leading vote-getter, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, who was backed by the military.

[9] During the election, Vaz promised to focus on reducing poverty and increasing investment in agriculture,[6] as well as forgiveness for participation in the sorts of criminal activities that have turned Guinea-Bissau into a haven for drug traffickers.

[13] The International Monetary Fund met with Vaz and other officials to discuss about economic activity which were supported by fiscal management and a 2018 draft budget.

[15] President Vaz sacked the government with immediate effect which caused a crisis for Guinea-Bissau and the election taking place a month after.